Day +573 : Company Chinese New Year dinner

I am fine today.

I attended our company Chinese New Year dinner today at Cheong Hua Restaurant in Pusat Bandar Puchong. We ordered two tables for 17 staffs with each table cost RM586.

I thank God to be able to attend this dinner and to enjoy the delicious food :-)

Lao Sheng (捞生) - table 1 Lao Sheng (捞生) - table 2
Now I would like to share with you the nine-course meal that we had. They also gave one bottle of red wine per table.

Yu Sheng (鱼生) Four seasons
Shark fin soup
Steam fish
Prawn
Chicken
Vegetable
Glutinous rice
Dessert
And finally, "Yam Sheng" together.

See you next post :-)

Day +572 : Attending an open house, no, "open palace"

I am fine today.

I went to attend a church member’s “open palace” yesterday evening. We called it “open palace” instead of open house, because the semi-detached house is renovated like a palace.

The house itself costs RM800,000 and the renovation alone costs another RM500,000. So the total costs of the “palace” is RM1.3 million :-) The renovation took one year to complete.

Christ is the head of this house The garden
Swimming pool
A corner of the garden
Garden view from top
Family photo at the garden
Thanksgiving meeting before the dinner
I was leading songs

Though the house is as luxurious as palace, I still find my house at the kampong more interesting :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +571 : 3 for RM20 here, 5 for RM16 in the kampong

I am fine today.

The three - Joseph, David and Daniel (from left)Are we trying to sell off ourselves at the cheap price of RM20? No, no. We are talking about haircut. Three of us just got our hair cut today with a total cost of RM20. This is considered to be very cheap haircut in KL. The Indian barber shop that we always cut our hair charges RM8 per adult and RM6 per child. So I paid RM20 today.

The five - Adriel, Joseph, Daniel, Aaron and my wife, Angela

They went for haircut in the kampong during the holiday, and we were charged RM16 only - RM3 per children and RM4 per adult. Pretty cheap, isn't it?

This is another reason that we don't need to have a lot of money to survive in the kampong as I mentioned in my blog Day +561 : They are there by themselves :-)

Not enough money to spend? Back to kampong might be one of the solutions :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +570 : Are you doing business?

I am fine today.

“Are you doing business?” the vegetable seller asked me when I was purchasing vegetables at the market this morning. This was not the first time I was asked this question.

They mistakenly thought that I am a restaurant owner because I purchased a lot of vegetables, in the order of kilogram rather than few hundred grams as most customers normally do.

We need so much vegetable because we have 8 people in the family. Apart from this, we eat a lot of vegetable. This may explains why my wife and I scored very high Skin Carotenoid Score as mentioned in my blog Day +540 : I am 6 years younger than me?

Eat a lot of vegetable; it is good for health :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +569 : I buy Toyota Alphard, do you want my Mitsubishi Pajero?

I am fine today.

My brother-in-law (my boss) purchased a second hand 2.4L Toyota Alphard 2005 today with an on-the-road price RM210,000. He invited me and a car workshop owner to test drives the vehicle at the sales office.

Toyota Alphard 2005 is a luxury multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). The 2005 model comes with automatic sliding doors which slide open with a press of button. Very impressive! Apart from this, its internal design is spacious and comfortable. It could accommodate 8 passengers.

Toyota Alphard 2005

Internal view

My brother-in-law offered me his 1996 3.5L Mitsubishi Pajero to me free of charge. Though I need an 8-seater vehicle, I dared not accept the offer for two reasons. Firstly, the old Pajero maintenance cost is extremely high, and secondly, it consumes a lot of petrol; at least RM0.60 per km, I believe. I would rather squeeze in 8 people into the Perdana for now :-)

The Pajero is similar to this one
In the end, he traded in the Pajero at a price of RM20,000 only.

See you next post :-)

Day +568 : Pulau Ketam Trip (2)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday...

The restaurant's poster
The restaurant that we had our lunch

The package, we took the RM160 set lunch for 8-10 person. As our group consisted of 12 adult and 4 children. We side ordered another 2.5kg of crab. So we consumed more than 4 kg of crab :-)
William was in charge of choosing the crab.
Press here, the harder the better. This was the first time I saw people choosing crab this way :-)
Bamboo shell
Black pepper crab
Prawn

Fried sotong (squid)
Fish ball soup
Steam fish
Vegetable

Fried Mee Hoon with crab (side order)

Sweet sour crab

The dishes were not very delicious. Even though the crabs were alive when we chose them, my wife and I "stumbled across" some crabs which tasted bitter. We suspected they swapped (掉包) the alive crabs with the dead one in the kitchen :-(

Giant bamboo shell available for sale on the street. First time I ever see such large bamboo shell. I purchased 4kg - 2kg for myself and another 2kg for my brother Richard.
After cleaning - 2kg became 1kg
A zoom in view of the flesh of the giant bamboo shell. Like giant earthworm, dare to eat? See you next post :-)

Day +567 : Pulau Ketam Trip (1)

I am fine today.

My family went to Pulau Ketam (Crab Island) today with some of our church members. This is the first time we ever visit the island.

Pulau Ketam is a fishing island about 10 km west of Port Klang. We took a commuter train from Petaling station at Old Klang Road to the Pelabuhan Klang first and then proceed to Pulau Ketam using express boat. The train journey took us about 1 hour and the boat ride from the jetty to the island took about half an hour only.

The main objective for us to visit the island is to enjoy the seafood there, and besides this, we also want to see the uniqueness of this special island. There is no car on the island; the only vehicle that we saw was bicycle. So the air there should be cleaner than most places. Another interesting feature of the island is that all the houses there are built on stilt above the mangrove swamps.

Though the seafood was not as great as we expected, the island is definitely a place worthy to visit due to its uniqueness.

The Kereta Tanah Melayu's (KTM) commuter train, RM3.80 per adult from Petaling station to Pelabuhan Klang. Half price for children. Quiet and relaxing, but a little bit slow.
Take a group photo before boarding the train
Colourful boats at the Pelabuhan Klang's jetty
The ferry or express boat (RM7 per adult and RM4 per children for one way trip)
Pulau Ketam - view from the jetty
Another view from the jetty
Many small crabs on the mangroove swamp at the jetty. We saw someone catching the small crab successfully using fishing rod with squid as bait.
Very colourful crabs - first time I ever see this type of crab (click to get a larger view)
Joseph and Daniel "studying" the colourful crabs
The fire station (Bomba) of the island
The street
Aaron
Adriel
Family photo in the commuter train

Another view of street
To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +566 : IBM Information On Demand 2008 Comes To You

I am fine today.

I attended the above IBM event at Sheraton Subang today. It is about IBM’s solution to information on demand.


As advertised in the event brochure, their information on demand solution will transform the corporate information into strategic asset which is available to the right people, at the right place, in the right context, at the right time. Real time. On time. Every time :-)

The solution is more relevant to telephone company, banking, insurance and government sectors which have to handle tremendous amount of information in real time.

Therefore the event is not really relevant to me, but never mind; as long as “breakfast, tea break and lunch are provided” it is still worthy to attend :-) Anyway, I “cabut (run away)” after the lunch :-)

During the opening address, the country manager of IBM software group said that people tend to take information for granted. In fact, it is human nature to take many things such as relationship, family, health for granted. Not only this, many people even take life for granted :-(

See you next post :-)

Day +565 : Follow-up – my liver function is excellent now :-)

My Blood Count Today: - Readings in square bracket [] are result from previous test.
Red Blood Count (HB) = 150[148] (Normal 130-180)
Platelet = 208[246] (Normal 150-450)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 7.5[11.1] (Normal 4 - 11)
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) = 4.05[7.104] (Normal 1.5 - 8.0)
ALT = 38[57] (Normal 30 – 65)
AST = 19[24] (Normal 15-37)
GGT = 70[165] (Normal 15-85)

I am fine today.

I went to have my follow-up today. For the first time since I contracted graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) about one year ago, all my liver enzyme levels return to normal level :-) I thank God for the excellent liver test result today.

Apart improvement on the liver function, the white blood count also dropped from last follow-up’s reading of 11.1 to 7.5 today. The elevated white blood count during last two follow-up was certainly due to infection. During infection, the body produces more white blood to fight the bacteria or viruses. This is analogous to calling in extra armies to ward off intrusion during a military conflict.

Doctor reduced my daily Prednisolon (steroid) dosage from 15mg (3 tablets) to 10mg (2 tablets). I treat this as another milestone to achieving a drug free life :-)

My next follow-up will be four weeks later - after the Chinese New Year. Hopefully, the Prednisolon dosage can be further reduced by then.

See you next post :-)

Day +564: Christmas sharing – Eternal life, our greatest assurance (3)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday…

永生的盼望，生命的保障 (3)

那么，我们真正的保障在哪里呢？我们真正的保障在于耶稣。全世界都在每年的十二月廿五日圣诞节里庆祝耶稣的诞生。所以圣诞节真正的主角乃是耶稣。但今天我们在这里庆祝圣诞节当儿，你可曾想到这个节日的主角耶稣到底与我们有什么关系呢？他除了带来这个普天欢庆的圣诞节日外，是否还为我们带来一些更重要、更有意义的东西呢？

请听圣经怎么说：『神爱世人，甚至将他的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信他的不至灭亡，反得永生。』约翰三16

这里说到这个圣诞节主角耶稣乃是神的儿子。因为神爱我们，不愿意看到我们的人生没有盼望，所以派他的独生子耶稣在两千多年前诞生在这个世界上，被人钉在十架上代替我们承受罪的刑罚，好让凡相信他的人可以得到永生。那什么是永生呢？永生就是与主一起永远的住在天堂里面。

一位永远活着的神才有资格给人类带来永生的盼望。耶稣虽然为我们的罪被钉死在十字架上，但他第三天从死里复活，胜过了死亡的权势，从此永远的活着。所以惟有这位圣诞节的主角耶稣能够给我们带来真正的保障和永远活着的盼望。

我在九个月之中，接受了四轮的化疗及一次的骨髓移植，总共在医院里住了150天。我看过许多生死别离，也失去了许多在病房认识的朋友。每一次所面对的疗程也都犹如经过死荫幽谷。若我没有这个永生的盼望，就算我病不死，大概也会怕死掉。有一位病人的母亲跟我说，他的女儿在治疗的过程中，因为被安排到与一些严重病患同房，看到这些病患的恐怖状态而怕死掉。比我前一位作骨髓移植的病人很不幸在移植的过程中在那个专门为骨髓移植病人所设的隔离病房里去世。那时我在隔壁的一个病房作骨髓移植前准备的工作，虽然护士拉下我病房的窗帘，不要让我知道发生什么事，但我还是知道发生了什么事情，也看到那得去世的女病人被推出去。几个小时之后，我就进入那个房间作同样的骨髓移植程序。怕不怕？另外，我的病房的厕所在冲水后会发出咯哆！咯哆！的声音。有一位护士怕我会怀疑那是鬼魂作怪所发出的声音，特地的向我解释那是厕所出了问题而不是有鬼魂在作怪。就是那个护士没有向我解释，我也不会害怕，因为我有永生的盼望，我的生命在他的手里，不论是生是死，耶稣都与我同在。鬼魂无法伤害我一根毫毛。

亲爱的朋友们，这个永生的盼望不只让我可以面对生命中大小的挑战，它也让我能够坦然的面对死亡的威胁。神爱我们，他要将这个盼望白白的赐给我们。为了让我们能够拥有这个盼望，他为我们预备了耶稣，叫每一个接受他为救主的人都可以超越短暂的今生，得到永恒的生命。朋友们，不要再犹豫了，现在就接受耶稣为你的救主，让永恒的生命成为你这一生最大的保障吧！

See you next post :-)

Day +563: Christmas sharing – Eternal life, our greatest assurance (2)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday…

永生的盼望，生命的保障 (2)

这一件事让我看到，我们可以为生命作很多的筹算，但这些筹算并不一定会给我们带来所预期的效果。如果我不是个基督徒，我一定怨天尤人，埋怨上天为何如此对我不公平。埋怨的生命肯定的会带给我许多不必要的苦楚。还好，我是个基督徒，因此我没有埋怨谁，我相信一切事情的发生，都在我所相信的神掌控之中，他容许这件事情发生在我的身上，肯定有他美好的安排。

还有一个每个病人都无法逃避的问题是：我要死了吗？或我还能活多久？回想起来，那时我的太太怀孕五个月，还有三个幼小的孩子，万一我有何不测的话，谁来照顾他们？除此之外，我也顾虑到我的收入，长时间不能工作，我们如何生活？还有，每一轮的化疗，都有生命的危险。更不幸的是，医生说我需要做骨髓移植。这是因为我血液的染色体(chromosome)出了重大的问题，以致我的血癌是属于最危险的那一种。骨髓移植的风险很高，死亡率差不多在20到25巴仙之间，也就是说每四个进行骨髓移植的病人之中，平均就有一个遭遇死亡。坦白说，我真的没有把握自己是否经得起这样激烈的治疗。

我如何面对这样严峻的考验呢？当我抬起头来仰望神时，我所有的顾虑一扫而空。我从神那里看到盼望，一个超越黑暗和死亡的永恒盼望。这个盼望就是主耶稣在圣经上所应许的，信他的人有永生。我对我自己说，我若离开这个世界，美丽的天堂就是我永恒的家园，在那里“没有眼泪，也不再有死亡，悲哀、哭号、疼痛”。有了这个思想之后，我心就安定了。

我的盼望在于神所赐给我的永生。这个盼望让我遇到人生大困难、甚至生命受到威胁时，不至于惊慌失措，仍然可以安然以对。这个盼望成了我人生中最大的保障。它超越了世上所有的保险所能给我们的保障。永生的盼望是一个永远的保障，他的有效期是从短暂的今生开始进入永恒里面。这意味着当我们离开这个世界之后，这个保单还是有效的。另外一点要提的是，世界上没有任何一间保险公司有能力保障一个人的生命，但永生的盼望却是一个永恒生命的保障。当一个得到永生的人离开这个世界之后，他就进入美丽的天堂永远快乐的活着。

天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福，请问你人生的保障在哪里呢？什么东西可以保障你那最宝贵的生命呢？什么东西可以让你的生命永远快乐的活着？什么东西可以在你走投无路、甚至连性命都不保的情况下仍然充满盼望呢？是保险吗？是你的财富吗？是你的名誉地位吗？是你的配偶、孩子或家人吗？今天早上我很肯定的跟你讲，都不是。这些东西无法给你的生命带来永远的保障。我并不否认这些东西的重要性。我也买了好些保险，我也努力的工作赚钱，我也注重我与家人的关系，我从不忽略我的健康，如果我有政治家的天分，有机会当上国会议员或部长，我肯定会在政界里大干一番事业。但这些东西却是变幻无常的。没有人可以永远富有、没有人可以永远的当部长、没有人可以保证你那个乖巧可爱的孩子以后会变成怎么样的人、更没有人可以永远的健康。保险不能给我们永远的保障，保险无法保障我们的生命。所以我们绝对无法从这些短暂、变化无穷的东西上找到永恒的立足点、生命的保障、永恒的盼望。

To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +562 : Christmas sharing – Eternal life, our greatest assurance (1)

I am fine today.

I would like to post the script of my last Christmas sharing. It was prepared in Chinese. If you would like to know the content but do not know Chinese, please let me know. Perhaps I can translate it.

永生的盼望，生命的保障 (1)

大家好！今天早上我感到非常的兴奋可以在这个圣诞的佳节里与大家分享我生命中一个非常重要的经历。

两年前的圣诞节也就是两年前的这一天对我来说是一个很特别的日子。这一天，我带着怀孕差不多六个月的太太和三个幼小的孩子从沙劳越的古晋飞回吉隆坡，头上少了头发，成了光头星。其实不只头发，身体上差不多所有的毛都脱光了，成了名副其实的不毛之“人”。除此之外，身体上却多了一条谁也不想要的管子，从右手臂这边顺着静脉（血管）越过肩膀停留在心脏附近，以备随时抽血、输血以及输入药物之用。其实我并不在乎成为光头星，因为我对自己有信心，我的自我形象不是建立在我的样貌上。我也不会因为没有头发而自卑，其实光头使我觉得自己更年轻。我也不很在乎那条手臂上的管子—我的不速之客，因为它并不会对我的生命造成太大的威胁，只要我细心的照顾它，不让它受到任何的感染，我们还可以共同生存。但我要面对的却是一道无可躲避的问题，那就是面对死亡的挑战。一个不争的事实发生在我的身上，我患上了血癌也就是所谓的白血病。化疗使我成了光头星。为着化疗的缘故，我的身上也多了一条接通静脉的管子。

两年前的十一月中，也就是圣诞节前一个多月，我带着太太和孩子们高高兴兴的回去沙劳越的老乡度长假。在假期的最后一天，古晋的中央医院诊断出我患上了急性骨髓血癌。我要感谢主，这个诊断是在假期的最后一天，而不是第一天，为什么呢？因为在接受治疗之前，至少还可以跟家人享受一个愉快的假期，在这样的情况下，先甜后苦似乎也不错。那时的情况非常危急，白血球的指数从正常的4飙升到180，血小板偏低，从正常的150跌到22。喉咙受到严重的感染，红肿流血，身体出现红色斑点。因为血小板偏低的缘故，身体其他部分也在流血，排出来得尿液尽是红色的，相当吓人。医生说我的情况不容许我回来西马治疗。所以我只好无奈的延长我在古晋的假期，进行了第一轮的化疗，单单这一轮的化疗，就在医院里呆了廿十多天。

当医生宣布我患上血癌时，我的心里浮现出许多的问题。其中一道每一个病人都会问的问题是：为何是我，不是他？我是一个相当注重健康的人。在我还没有患上血癌之前的两年里，我每天清晨五点半就起床晨跑3.5公里，非常有纪律的跑，除了下雨之外，我从来没有间断过我的晨运。所以在两年里单单在晨运中就跑了超过两千多公里的路。不但如此，我差不多每天喝绿茶、吃燕麦、绿藻、鱼油和其他健康食品。每个星期几乎都吃自制的酸奶(Yogurt)，而且上班的日子，每天中午从公司回家吃午餐及小睡，很少吃外面又油腻，口味又重的食物。除此之外，我喜爱古典音乐，个性也乐观，时常保持开朗的心情。所以我从来没有想到我的健康会出这样大的问题。

To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +561: They are there by themselves :-)

I am fine today.

When I was in the kampong during the last vacation, I saw a big almost ripe pineapple growing besides the house.

“Who planted this?” I asked.

“Nobody,” my sister-in-law answered.

I believe someone just threw the pineapple crown (leafy top) through the window after eating the fruit, and the crown grew up and bore a big pineapple by itself :-)

Apart from this, I could see a lot of tapioca trees scattered around the house. Nobody seems to be interested to harvest and eat them.

The kampong is blessed with abundant supply of natural food; some of them we don’t even have to grow. They are just here by themselves :-)

With this, I never have to worry I don’t have enough money to buy food. Just go back to live in the kampong if necessary; we really don’t need much money to survive there :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +560 : Entering ATM pin in reverse to call police?

I am fine today.

I received an email from one of my nephews with the following forwarded message:

“Sekiranya anda dirompak dan dipaksa untuk mengeluarkan wang akaun anda daripada mesin ATM...anda boleh meminta bantuan cara senyap denganmemasukkan no Pin anda di mesin ATM cara terbalik........

Sebagai contoh jika no Pin anda adalah 123456, jadi anda harus memasukkan nombor 654321......

Mesin ATM akan mengenalpasti nombor tersebut adalah nombor yg diterbalikkan drpd nombor yg sebenarnya melalui kad anda yg masukkan kedalam mesin tersebut......

Mesin ATM akan tetap mengeluarkan wang tunai seperti biasa, tapi apa yg kita tidak ketahui, pihak Bank dgn segera akan menghantar pihak berkuasa (Polis) kepada anda....

Perkara ini pernah disiarkan di TV baru-baru ini dan ianya menyatakan kaedah ini jarang diguna disebabkan ramai orang tidak mengetahui akan kewujudan sistem yg seumpama ini.....

Sebarkanlah maklumat ini seluas mungkin untuk manfaat kepada orang lain....”

Or in English the message should read:

“If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your Pin # in reverse.

For example if your pin number is 123456 then you would put in 654321. The ATM recognizes that your pin number is backwards from the ATM card you placed in the machine.

The machine will still give you the money you requested, but unknown to the robber, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you.

This information was recently broadcasted on TV and it states that it is seldom used because people don't know it exists.

Please pass this along to everyone possible.”

My nephew asked me whether this is true. I did a test on the ATM machine and get a “wrong pin number” message :-) So no money will be delivered to you and no police will be called. This message is simply another email hoax. Please don’t forward it if you receive one.

Though it is a hoax, the idea is quite brilliant. It is very common for the car hijackers to force their victims to reveal the ATM pin. As written on my blog Day+ 244 (Government & robbers, who is more efficient?), my friends experienced this last year. If this system was in place, the hijackers would already be caught.

However, one important issue needs to be addressed in implementing this system. It is for those who uses symmetrical password such as 123321; reversing the password bears no different to the original one in this case :-( So the system would not know whether you are in trouble through the password.

If the programmer overlooks this issue, then you would be caught by police every time you withdraw money using the symmetrical password :-(

See you next post :-)

Day +559 : Beware of Sentosa Linear! (2)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday…

But again, the bus didn’t come at the promised time. When my niece went to check the sale agent at the counter, she didn’t apologize but scolded her fiercely. “Why didn’t you wait at the platform? You are stupid…" My niece was waiting at the right platform and was led to board the bus with other passengers. How could the sale agent accused her for not waiting at the right platform? Ridiculous, isn’t it?

In the end, my niece approached another bus company called Delima which advised her to demand a refund. “If they don’t want to refund, I will report this case to police for you,” the sale agent said.

In the end, Sentosa Linear refunded the ticket reluctantly.

Apart from over selling bus ticket, the company also sold ticket at higher price than other companies. My niece saw a mother and son purchasing ticket at RM12 while the standard price was only RM9.50.

The lesson learned from this incident: Never buy ticket without confirmed seat number printed on the ticket. Some bus company might just over sell their ticket, hoping that someone would not turn up. Another advice is to use the service of more established bus companies, and particularly, watch out for Sentosa Linear!

See you next post :-)

Day +558 : Beware of Sentosa Linear! (1)

I am fine today.

My niece who studies in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) comes to visit me quite often. She normally comes on Friday evening after the study and then returns to UTeM on Sunday afternoon. It takes her slightly more than 4 hours to reach my house by bus.

One week ago, when she wanted to return to UTeM, she purchased a bus ticket from a company called Sentosa Linear in Pudu Raya bus station. The company sold her a ticket at RM11, and there was no seat number printed on the ticket. My niece chose the company because it had bus depart to Melaka at 5:00pm, which is the earliest she could find at that time. The sale agent at the counter told her to wait at a particular platform to board the bus.

The bus only came at 5:30pm, and all the passengers were led to a place quite far away from the platform to board the bus. The person in charge stopped my niece from boarding the bus. The reason given was the bus was full :-) She was not the only unlucky one; three other passengers were declined boarding the bus too. The person in charge asked them to wait for the next bus at 6:00pm.

To be continued and see you next post :-)